The following is a journal of the adventure filled days we spent
on our trip. The individuals attending were Jake Green, Allen Riancho,
Eric Riesenbeck (Quartermaster), Ryan Shick (Crew Chief), Matt Wilder and
adult advisors John Combs and Marcia Kellems.

Wednesday, July 2 We left the Combs' household at 8:18 a.m. in the troop╠s 12 passenger
van. Our last view of our parents were of them laughing, singing
and dancing. Scouts listened to music, read their scuba books and
took naps. We approached Lexington, Kentucky with some apprehension since
we heard there could be up to a two hour delay due to blasting/highway
construction. Fortunately, we breezed right on through! We
drove nonstop to the Kentucky/Tennessee border where we enjoyed a Kodak
moment at the state sign. We then drove sixty seconds to the Tennessee
welcome center for a lunch stop. It was 95 degrees so we were back to the
van in record time. We resumed our travels, stopping for gas and
restrooms. The Cafe Erotica signs along the highway had several of the
scouts begging for their Scoutmaster to stop. We made a fast food
stop for dinner (Burger King or McDonald╠s) and continued our travels.
Finally, after 12 hours of travel, we arrived at the Econo Lodge.
Last sea base trip we stayed at Warner-Robbins Air Force Base in tents.
Since this turned out to be an all night sweat box, we decided to really
rough it this trip. Our Econo Lodge ¤tentsË had air conditioning,
microwave ovens, refrigerators, televisions with HBO and showers.
After pitching our ¤tentsË and unloading our gear, we headed to the pool
to cool off. After passing their 200 yard swim test, the crew practiced
diving feats and water wrestling. When the pool closed at 9:30 p.m.,
we returned to our rooms for a short trip meeting. We went to bed
at 10:30 p.m. in cool comfortable air conditioning.

Thursday, July 3 Our hotel wake up call came at a brain shattering 7:00 a.m.
The silly Scouts stayed up until 5:30 a.m. watching TV and horsing around.
We showered, dressed in full uniform, packed our gear and iced down the
coolers. We went to the check-in desk and ate a continental breakfast of
donuts and orange juice. It was nice not having to do dishes!
Eric politely held the door open for two elderly ladies. A Scout
is courteous! We continued our travels and sailed right through the
construction zone at 70 mph! The Georgia Highway Patrol were out
in great numbers. We saw nine in just two and a half hours.
We stopped at a Speedway and got gas. John received a booklet that
would get the troop three dollars in free gas if they made four more refueling
stops at Speedway. Needless to say, we would be watching for Speedway
stations from here on out! At 11:00 a.m. we stopped at the Florida
visitor center. Every boat we saw in the parking lot belonged to
Eric (or so he said). After another hour╠s drive, we stopped at a
rest stop for a lunch of cold cuts, chips and pop. The scenery was
really beginning to change with Spanish moss hanging from trees and an
over abundance of pine trees. Refueled and refreshed we resumed our
ride. John stopped to take our picture at the 325 mileage sign.
We drove through St. Augustine, the oldest city in the United States, and
saw many historic buildings. We made a quick stop at a lighthouse
with Marsha paying the fee for all the Scouts to scramble the stairs to
the top. We then drove to Daytona Beach, arriving at 4:30 p.m.
We drove the troop van a short distance down the beach and then let the
guys out to unwind. Time was spent ocean wave riding, sand throwing
fights, sand castle building and checking out female swim wear. The
beach was a swarm of activity: ATVs, sailboats, parasailers, sunbathers
and birds were everywhere. Waders were pleasantly surprised to have
little fish nibbling at their toes. The guys spotted a girl wearing
white shorts and white tee shirt swimming in the ocean. Upon their
closer inspection, they discovered she was not wearing any underwear. The
ever playful Marcia asked the Scouts if they would like her to go over
and get the girl to wave to them. Thinking she wouldn╠t do it, the
Scouts double dog dared her. Boldly she walked over to the girl and
explained there was a group of Boy Scouts who would like her to wave to
them. By this time all the Scouts had ran and hid behind in the van,
except for John who stood there with an amused look on his face.
At 6:00 p.m. the crew got in the van and headed down the beach with the
sliding van door open for better viewing. John got his revenge when
he stopped the van in front of the girl in the white outfit. She
waved to the guys. The guys, now protected by steel and glass, waved
back meekly. With an amused chuckled, John left the beach and began
the drive to St. Cloud. Worn out from the day╠s adventures and with
the road noise droning in their ears, the Scouts quickly dozed off to sleep.
Marsha entertained John by trying to toss the cap to a plastic pop bottle
into sleeping Jake╠s open mouth. After two hours of driving from Daytona
Beach, we arrived at St. Clouds United Methodist Church╠s Family Life Center.
What a beautiful facility! The janitor (who just happened to be there)
gave us a quick tour. It had a carpeted half court basketball gym,
fully equipped kitchen with ice machine, restrooms with showers, and air
conditioning! We unloaded the van and began fixing dinner.
Soon Ryan and Jake were serving up hamburgers, potato sticks, cookies,
and Kool-Aid. Man, did the air conditioning feel good! Cleaning
up greasy skillets was much easier with sinks and hot running water.
The guys played basketball, read scuba books or took showers. Eric
found a large quantity of dead cockroaches (Oh, I mean Palmetto bugs) which
he collected on an upside down Frisbee. With that the group moved
their sleeping bags up onto tables. Some discussion ensued over whether
Allen Riancho (who was finishing up a family vacation) would join up with
us at the youth center or at DisneyWorld. One Scout was very sure
Allen would be meeting us at DisneyWorld so we decided to go there first
thing in the morning. Lights out was 11:00 p.m. and everyone quickly
passed out.

Friday, July 4 We enjoyed a wonderful night╠s sleep in our cool quarters.
Our quiet slumber was broken at 7:00 a.m. with John yelling, ¤You are what
is standing between me and DisneyWorld!Ë We quickly arose and gobbled
down a breakfast of cereal and orange juice. Dressed in our civvies,
we headed to DisneyWorld for a day of fun and excitement. John stopped
at a pay phone and called Kenny Riancho to tell him we would be meeting
him at DisneyWorld. Unfortunately, he had to leave a message on his
answering machine (routed via cell phone). John took a wrong exit
into DisneyWorld and we did not arrive there until 8:50 a.m. Once
we arrived at the entrance to MGM, we made a vigilant search for Allen.
Unfortunately we did not find him so John bought our tickets and turned
us loose. Eric met his father Ted (who lives in Florida) and stepmother
Pam at the gate. He had not seen his father in many years!
Allen and his parents showed up at 9:50 a.m. As it turned out, we
were supposed to have met them at the youth center. John bought Allen
a ticket and told him to try to find the group. If he didn╠t find
them then he was to return to the van where John would be waiting.
Allen╠s parents left, but then returned, deciding to see if Allen found
the other Scouts. He didn╠t so Alice, Kenny, Allen, Allen╠s cousin
and John went to MGM as a group. After taking in a few of the attractions,
the two groups finally bumped into each other and all was well. The
attractions at MGM were truly spectacular! The Indiana Jones Stunt
Spectacular provided awesome action, spectacular stunts, and earsplitting
explosions. Jim Henson╠s Muppets in 3D was an incredible 3D movie
complete with real water from above. The Backstage Tour provided
a behind the scenes look at the scenery and props used to make a movie.
During the tour, we entered Catastrophe Canyon, where the audience sat
in the middle of fire, flood and earthquake. The Great Movie ride,
a kinder, gentler attraction, provided a tour through some of the greatest
moments in film making history. Star Tours was a virtual reality
trip through space. And then there was the Hollywood Tower Hotel, an elevator
free fall of over ten stories, twice! It was definitely the most
popular ride in the park with some Scouts riding it five times. A
large thunderstorm resulted in an hour of lost fun time, but the guys more
than made up for it when they bumped into a group of girls from Brazil.
Fireworks closed the park at 10:00 p.m. and we regrouped at the van.
We were on the road by 10:38 p.m. and the guys traded stories with each
other about their day at DisneyWorld. Unfortunately, construction
caused numerous traffic jams and it took us two hours to return!
To add to the dismal ride, the Scouts were not permitted to talk due to
saying some very unScoutlike things. Back at our gym, the guys took
showers, played basketball or piano or just fooled around.
Lights out was at 1:15 a.m. and we immediately became good friends
with our bed rolls.

Saturday, July 5 Who is bouncing a basketball six inches from my head at 8:00
a.m. in the morning?!? Why it is my Scoutmaster, of course!
After this rude awakening, Eric and Allen began fixing a breakfast of pancakes,
sausage and orange juice. We finished our meal, cleaned dishes, packed
gear, loaded the van, and cleaned the Family Life Center. We left
at 10:09 a.m. with Matt thanking the janitor for our stay. We headed
for Cocoa Beach, taking a wrong turn on a toll expressway. Since
the next exit was 51 miles and the grassy median looked very soft, we backed
the van up on the shoulder for almost a mile. After almost two hours
of driving we arrived at Cocoa Beach and made our traditional stop at Ron
Jon╠s Surf Shop. We left our van in their parking lot and walked
to the beach. The 100+ degree weather caused us to return to the
air conditioned van after only half an hour. We drove for about an
hour and stopped at a roadside park for a lunch of lunch meat sandwiches,
potato chips and pop. Eric stayed in the van saying he was too tired
to get out and eat. We continued driving and finally arrived at Homestead
Air Reserve Base at 5:50 p.m. Each pair of Scouts got a room with
cable TV, air conditioning, microwave oven and telephone for $7.00 each.
One interesting twist was each pair of rooms shared a common bathroom.
This would later become amusing when Marcia╠s bathroom door would be left
locked indefinitely by the other room╠s occupants. Unloading the
van was a brutal task! As soon as we emerged from the vehicle, ten
gazillion mosquitoes descended on our unprotected bodies. Fearing
that we might be sucked dry of blood, we chose to cook our hamburgers in
the microwave instead of the outdoor grill. After dinner, the guys
did laundry, studied scuba books and watched TV. John passed out
on his bed and wasn╠t seen from again until morning.

Sunday, July 6 John and Marcia permitted us to sleep late since we were less
than an hour and a half from the sea base and check in time was after 2:00
p.m. One of the rooms did not crawl out of bed until 10:30 a.m.!
We showered, dressed in full uniform and ate breakfast. John checked
us out at the front desk and we hit the road. Within minutes we entered
the Florida Keys. Swamp, scrub trees, and neon colored tourist towns
were everywhere. After one hour and twenty three minutes of driving
we were at the sea base. We were greeted by a staff member who we
enlisted to take a group picture at the sea base sign. John and Marcia
checked us in while the guys were given a tour of the base. Laurie Easton,
our staff mate, told us to stow our gear in the dormitory and change to
our swimsuits for our swim test. Our third floor dormitory (used
by scuba crews only) was both brand new and beautiful! A lounge area
with table, padded chairs and book shelf greet you at the door. Hand
painted murals are everywhere. Our crew╠s room had brand new wooden bunk
beds each with its own reading light, night stands with drawers, clothes
closet, ceiling fan and air conditioning! Adults and Scouts had separate
bathrooms. Each bathroom had tiled floors, three sinks with a large
mirror behind them, two toilets, urinals, and three private fiberglass
shower stalls. Without a doubt, this is the best Scouting accommodations
we have experienced in our 22 year history! Marcia, being of the
female persuasion, had to stay in the second floor women╠s dormitory.
After changing into our suits, we headed down to the boat dock to take
our 100 yard swim test. The buoyant water easily kept us afloat and
we passed the test without difficulty. Next, we were issued our scuba
gear which we took to the scuba tank area for storage. We then
visited the ship╠s store and bought our troop trip tee shirts. Unfortunately,
an unanimous decision could not be reached so some of us selected the tie
dye shirt while others selected the shirt displaying the scuba diving symbol.
Marcia and John met with John Haley, the scuba director to check over all
medical forms and take care of some necessary paper work. John Haley
was both professional and friendly, making for a very pleasant check-in.
After the flag ceremony, we chowed down to a dinner of barbecue chicken,
rice, salad, green beans, fresh fruit and chocolate cake under the quarterdeck.
It was neat eating a tasty meal while watching the gentle sway of the palm
trees in the breeze. Welcome to paradise! At 8:00 p.m. we met
to finish filling out scuba certification paperwork. Laurie asked
John and Marcia to sign as the Scout╠s legal guardians on the certification
forms. They both balked saying they could not legally do so.
Laurie had Ron (a higher authority scuba type guy) talk to us about doing
this. He could not explain why these forms had not been sent home
to parents prior to the trip (as all other forms had), but gruffly stated
others crews had signed these forms in the past without question.
(Editor╠s note - Remember Mommy telling you not to do something just because
someone else does?) He then informed them if they did not sign as
legal guardians then the crew would not be permitted to scuba dive.
John and Marcia signed the forms with John vowing to check this out with
National B.S.A. The crew then went to a slide show on ocean sea life
while John made a call home. John talked to Jerry Amos, our Committee
Chairperson, and asked him to call National B.S.A. in the morning and relay
our dilemma. After the show, the guys had about 30 minutes of free
time until curfew. They spent it getting acquainted with every female
crew member in camp. Not one Scout returned to the room by the Scoutmaster╠s
10:00 p.m. curfew time. After everyone finally checked in, John gave
them a strong discipline talk to encourage better behavior. The crew
went meekly to bed at 11:20 p.m.

Monday, July 7 Our Scoutmaster, a human alarm clock, woke us at 7:00 a.m.
We dressed in our troop tee shirt and Scout shorts and headed to the boat
dock for crew pictures. After a fine Kodak moment, we went to flag
raising. Our crew was lucky enough to be chosen for color guard duty
and performed the flag raising without a hitch. Breakfast was sausage,
biscuits, gravy and cereal. At 9:00 a.m. it was time to head for
our scuba class. The classroom itself was a screened room below the
dormitories containing several tables with white plastic chairs, a large
floor stand fan, an instructors desk and marker board and a TV/VCR.
Murty, our scuba instructor, talked to us for several minutes explaining
what the certification process entailed. He also stated we would
be fined a can of pop for the following offenses: being late to class,
placing your scuba mask on top of your head (universal distress signal)
or leaving your diving tank standing up. He told us he hoped we had
read and studies the entire scuba book before we arrived since the class
would proceed at an incredible rate of speed. Next, he gave us a
quiz to see how well we knew our scuba material. One member of our
group failed and had to take a second quiz. Next, we
watched a scuba instructional video for about an hour. It was difficult
staying awake in the Florida heat, listening to the video over the drone
of the large fan. We were rewarded for our wide-eyed efforts with
a lunch of charcoal grilled hamburgers (on the base╠s brand new grill),
corn chips and chocolate pudding. Sea base food is definitely several
cuts above our summer camp style chow! Allen and Matt used some left
over breakfast sausage to fish off the dock. We reluctantly returned
to class at 1:30 p.m. Murty began teaching us about scuba equipment
and diving procedures. We took a quiz over the second module and
everyone passed the first time. This was followed by more lecture
and more video with Murty even falling asleep during the viewing.
We took a quiz over the third module with one member of our group failing.
Fortunately, he passed the retake exam. We quickly moved on to the
fourth module and covered dive tables. Dive tables are used to prevent
you from diving too much. Excess diving causes too much nitrogen
in the body which leads to decompression sickness (¤the bendsË), a very
serious condition. The tables were hard to understand at first, but
soon almost everyone had the hang of them. At the end of class, Murty
asked John and Marcia to stay behind. He informed them that he suspected
two of the Scouts were cheating. He said if the Scouts cheated again
tomorrow, he would have to confront them. Flag lowering was followed
by a dinner of veal parmesan, green beans, garlic bread and cobbler.
With several hours of free time on their hands, the guys fished, visited
the ship╠s store and played with glow sticks. John called Jerry and
asked what National B.S.A. had said about the advisors signing as legal
guardians. The National B.S.A. safety director told Jerry that the
signatures where not valid since John nor Marcia were the legal guardians.
Thus, the signatures would not stand up in a court of law. What a
relief! John returned to the crew╠s quarters and reminded the Scouts
to study their scuba books. Lights out was at 11:00 p.m. and the
guys went quickly to sleep.

Tuesday, July 8 John woke the Scouts at 7:15 a.m. for the flag raising ceremony.
Allen complained both his ear and throat hurt. John said he may need
to make a trip to the doctor. After flag ceremony, the guys feasted
on breakfast burritos, cereal, fresh fruit and milk. John and Ryan
bumped into Captain Joe, their boat captain from their 1995 coral reef
sailing trip. Captain Joe said he saw our troop╠s coral reef sailing
journal posted on the sea base╠s Internet site. He teased John about the
way he was portrayed in the journal. Moments later Joe was dining
at the Captains table. Ryan approached him and said he saw Joe with
a young boy the day before. He inquired if that was his grandson.
Now Captain Joe is not really old enough to have a grandson, but the other
captains at the table got a hysterical hoot out of the remark. Poor
Captain Joe! Our crew returned to the classroom and resumed their
instruction. We practiced tons of dive tables in preparation for
the quiz. Fortunately, everyone passed the quiz. Unfortunately,
Murty accused two Scouts of cheating on the quiz. They both denied
it. Murty was uncertain on how to proceed so he had the group break
for lunch while he talked to a higher authority. Lunch was grilled
cheese sandwiches, onion rings, fresh fruit, salad and punch. After
lunch, Murty took the whole incident before the John Haley, the scuba director.
John Haley spoke with the suspected Scouts (hereafter referred to as the
¤SSË) and decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. They would
be allowed to pursue their certification, but would have to start back
at the beginning. Laurie would perform the classroom skills while
John Haley would cover the actual diving skills. Most of the day
was shot due to the incident. We ate a dinner of pork chops, mashed
potatoes, rolls, applesauce and salad. After dinner, the scuba staff
made the necessary arrangements to proceed with two certification classes,
one for the suspected cheaters (SS) and one for the other guys (hereafter
referred to as the ¤OGsË). The ¤suspectsË called their parents and
informed them of all the details of the incident. Lights out gratefully
came at 11:00 p.m.

Thursday, July 9 We dragged our tired bodies out of bed at 7:15 a.m. and headed
for flag ceremony. Several of our crew arrived late! A breakfast
of bagels, cherry strudel, cinnamon sticky buns, English muffins, cereal
and oranges were consumed in short order. We then took our 200 yard
swim test with John even putting in a few extra laps. Marcia and
Laurie took Allen to the doctor for his ear infection while some of the
others went to the dive tank for scuba instruction. Here we learned
how to assemble and put on our scuba gear. We first demonstrated
some scuba skills in the four feet pool such as using your fins to move
around, buoyancy control and breathing through your regulator. What
an incredible experience to be able to breathe under water! The fun
ended all too soon when it came time to break for lunch. Appropriately,
we ate fish sandwiches! We all gulped down salad, Cole slaw and muffins.
After lunch, Marcia ran to get Allen╠s prescription. The SS continued
studying with Laurie while the OGs moved to the ten foot deep circular
diving tank. Here the OGs learned many scuba techniques while sitting
on the bottom of the pool. These included how to recover a lost regulator
(device used to deliver low pressure air to your mouth), clearing a flooded
mask, switching from snorkel to regulator, fin pivoting (adding small amounts
of air to your jacket (BCD) until you slowly pivot upward on your fin tips
as you inhale and slowly pivot downward as you exhale), floating in mid
water, emergency ascents, taking equipment off and putting it back on,
sharing your regulator with a buddy (buddy breathing), swimming for several
minutes without a mask and breathing with a free flow regulator.
While in the tank, Eric experienced dizziness and pain above his eye.
Murty brought him out of the pool and had him lie down on a picnic table.
Fortunately, an experienced physician from another troop was close by and
provided assistance. After a short examination, he determined Eric
had a sinus squeeze, a pressure imbalance/buildup condition. He told
Eric not to enter the pool any more that day and to see a doctor for medication.
The SS continued work on their modules while the rest of the OGs continued
their scuba skills. The OGs had so much fun in fact that they voluntarily
continued their training through dinner and late into the evening.
We continued to practice old skills and also learned how to put on our
full scuba suit in the middle of the water. They finally quit at
8:15 p.m. and ate leftover pizza and salad. The OGs killed time in
their room while the SS studied for their final exam in the morning.
Lights out was at 11:00 p.m. and everyone quickly dozed off and dreamed
of adventure.

Friday, July 10 Crew Chief Ryan got everyone up at 7:00 a.m. He had got
us up 15 minutes earlier so some of us would not be late for flag ceremony
again. We were hoping for a bland breakfast since this would be our
first day of ocean diving. Although French toast sticks, waffles,
sausage links and cereal isn╠t the blandest stuff around, we figured it
could have been a lot worse. The OGs gathered up their diving equipment
and headed for the dock while the SS were sweating over their final exam.
Travis Golding, a bald headed scuba instructor with a comedian╠s wit came
along to assist Murty with our dive. We loaded our gear aboard the
Dusky, a 25 footer with a Bimini top, 225hp Evinrude engine and seating
for 12. Marshal, our boat captain, fired up the engine and headed
for Alligator Reef while Travis sang ¤Kung Fu FightingË. What a ride!
At times the front of the boat came completely out of the water and slammed
back down again. We loved it! After anchoring at the reef,
it was finally time to scuba dive in the ocean. To enter the ocean
from the Dusky, each Scout first put on his weight belt and then proceeded
to the back of the boat. Here they sat down on the back corner and
put on his mask and fins. Finally, they did a seated entry into the
ocean and the dive master threw them their BCD/tank/regulator unit into
the water. At this point, they used one of the many techniques
to get this equipment on their back. Once we were all suited up in
the water, the time came to descend. Unfortunately, Eric had a sinus
squeeze within a minute of descending and had to spend the rest of the
time in the boat. For the next half hour we practiced our scuba skills
with Murty and Travis while Marshal stayed with the boat. We practiced
mask clearing, fin pivot, lost regulator, buddy breathing and ascent techniques.
With one successful dive under our belts and a smile on our faces, we headed
back to base. Just another day in paradise. Upon arrival, we
learned the SS had passed their exam and were practicing scuba skills in
the diving tanks with Laurie and John Haley. We all got together
at lunch and ate burritos, salad and apple crisp. Marcia took Eric
to the doctor╠s office for a prescription for his sinus squeeze.
As if things weren╠t bad enough already, Allen got a tooth squeeze while
diving (air pocket under a tooth which causes pain) and was forced to quit
the certification process. The OGs headed back to Alligator Reef
and spent another 45 minutes in the ocean performing scuba skills.
On the return trip to base, Matt and Jake were looking a little sea sick.
John suggested they take Bonine since their symptoms indicated motion sickness.
Once back at base, we rinsed and stored our gear and took showers.
Boy, did that ever feel good! Dinner was surprise patties (not even
the cooks could tell us what they were made of), mashed potatoes, carrots,
salad and cobbler. Murty told us he would not be diving with us tomorrow
since he had to attend to some personal business. With a little free
time on their hands, the Scouts had the opportunity to crack open a few
coconuts they found on the ground, shop in the ship╠s store, explore the
base or just plain relax. As an extra treat, an incredibly beautiful
sunset brought the day to an end. At 11:00 p.m. the crew was in bed
and asleep.

Saturday, July 11 Ryan, our ever efficient crew chief, woke us up at 7:15 a.m.
Jake got out of bed with a pretty good cold. With the flags raised,
the breakfast (eggs, hash browns and cereal) eaten and the gear rounded
up, we all headed to the boat dock for the day╠s dive. By this time,
the SS and OGs would be on the same boat together, but would be doing different
skills in the ocean. John Haley was the boat dude with Travis and
Laurie working as diving instructors. Matt and Jake traveled much
better on the boat with the help of Bonine. We stopped at Long╠s Key pile,
an artificial reef created by concrete rubble dumped from the old cement
highway bridge. Everyone hit the water and proceeded to perform their
scuba tricks. The current was a little strong and visibility was
fair at best. Eric (who was responding well to medication) saw an
old soda can on the floor of the ocean and motioned to Travis to get it
for him. Once Eric had it in his hands he yanked the pull tab off
and returned the can to a very puzzled Travis. Eric would later give
the pull tab to John╠s son John Michael (age 5) who saves them for the
Ronald McDonald house program. (Side note - John Michael was pretty
excited to get a pull tab from the bottom of the ocean!) At the end
of the instruction, we toured each of the rubble piles watching closely
for marine wildlife. We saw lots of fish and a lobster or two.
During the whole session, a snorkeling Marcia and Allen observed from above.
All to soon, it was time to get back into the boat. However, Laurie
had a different idea when she spotted a school of dolphins about 100 yards
from the boat. By swimming fast, she was able to get within 30 feet
of them and hear them ¤talkË to each other. ¤It was really rad!Ë
she exclaimed. Just another day in paradise. On the way back,
John started a tradition of putting his towel over his head with a print
of a sun covering his face and singing ¤Mr. Golden SunË. This man
must be stopped! When we arrived back at base, safety conscious John
Haley informed us, ¤This is a bank robbery. Everyone hold still and
no one will get hurt.Ë This indeed was wise advice since earlier
in the week we saw a staff member jump off the boat before it came to a
stop, missed the dock and fell into the water. She might have been
hurt if not for the sharp and quick reactions of the boat captain.
Lunch was miniature pizzas, salad and cookies. Everyone traded their
empty tanks for full ones and then took a nap back at the room. At
2:30 p.m. we returned to the boat dock all the while wiping the sleep from
our eyes. The sun and activity were definitely taking its toll.
We loaded the boat and headed out for the B.S.A.╠s special diving spot.
Again we hit the water and quickly performed our diving skills while Marcia
and Allen snorkeled from above. We had a little extra air left in
our tanks so our instructors took us on a long tour. It was here
at the B.S.A╠s special location that they were creating an artificial reef.
Back at the base troops made large concrete bowls from molds, brought them
to this location and grouped them in various spots on the ocean floor to
create a habitat for fish. Indeed, lots of fish were gathered around
these bowls. In one of the bowls we saw a large grouper and in several
others we discovered some cautious lobsters. At one point, Travis
picked up a dead lobster and shook it in Eric╠s unsuspecting face.
Eric got even by discovering a shark╠s tooth, something Travis had constantly
been trying to find since arriving at the sea base. Visibility was
again fair at best, but the dive was great none the less. While heading
back to base Jake had a nose bleed, but got it to stop fairly quick.
After that he laid down and dozed off to sleep. The guys remarked
that he could sleep just about anywhere. Matt traveled back much
easier so the Bonine has really done the trick. Upon arriving, John
Haley instructed us to unload the boat by saying, ¤Okay folks, this is
a blue light special, everything must go!Ë We unloaded the boat,
washed our gear and our bodies and headed for supper. Ham, green
beans, salad, rolls and mini apple pies were consumed in short order.
We filled out our diving logs for the day and had them signed. Eric,
Matt and Allen went fishing using turkey bologna and caught six grunts.
John stopped by the sea base╠s new concession stand. Diane, Captain
Joe╠s girl friend, was doing her best to draw business into the ¤Snack
ShackË. The shack itself was constructed out of a former diving equipment
storage trailer and sells pizza, hot dogs, sno cones and such. Diane
really seems to enjoy talking to the Scouts and listening to their ¤tales
of adventureË. She talked about reading our previous trip╠s journal
which was posted on the sea base╠s Internet site. Captain Joe stopped
by and said he had to make an emergency run to get an underwater cable
loose from a coral reef. John offered to go and get on-the-job night
dive training, but was refused! The rest of the evening was spent
putting more money into the ship╠s store, playing volleyball and finishing
laundry. Worn beyond a frazzle, the guys turned in at an early 10:23
p.m.

Thursday, July 12 Ryan again woke the crew at 7:15 a.m. We went to flag raising
and then ate a breakfast of pancakes, sausage, fresh fruit and cereal.
During the meal, Ryan went over to the captain╠s table to talk with Captain
Joe. As fate would have it, Captain Joe broke off part of his tooth
while eating cereal. With the ¤grandson incidentË and now this geriatric
calamity, Captain Joe became known as Grandpa Joe, much to the delight
of the other captains! I guess Ryan indirectly got Captain Joe back
for throwing ice water in his crotch during our previous trip. Revenge
is a dish served best when cold! We loaded our gear on the boat and
headed again for Alligator Reef. The fast rushing wind claimed Jake╠s
hat and John Haley broke with standard operating procedure and went back
for him to retrieve it. The scuba group again hit the water while
Marcia and Allen snorkeled on the surface above. Visibility was pretty
good and marine life abound. We saw reef squid, lobster, sergeant
majors, midnight parrotfish, file fish, blue parrotfish, barracuda, jellyfish
and French angelfish. The reefs were full of sea anemone and pipe
coral. We even saw a brain coral that was taller than we were.
The most fascinating moment came when we ended a mammoth school of fish.
We swam in and out of what seemed like curtains of fish. They all
stayed the same distance from one another with heads down while we swam
through them. It was absolutely mesmerizing! While snorkeling,
Allen returned to the wrong boat. This must have been quite a surprise
for him. The group achieved a maximum depth of approximately 30 feet
and spent almost 40 minutes underwater. We returned to the boat,
stowed our gear and joined John in a verse of ¤Mr. Golden SunË. We
returned to base and swapped tanks for our afternoon dive. Lunch
was chicken strips, tatter tots, fresh fruit and cobbler. With our
bellies full, we returned to our air conditioned room and took a nice little
nap. Ahhh, just another day in paradise! At 2:00 p.m. we loaded
our gear on the boat and headed for Davis Reef. On the way out, we
had some trouble with the boat trim and had to stop and make some adjustments.
We arrived at the dive site, hooked to the ball and hit the water.
It indeed was the best dive yet. The reef was full of ocean life:
blue parrotfish, moray, lobster, trumpet fish (which swims backward) and
a large brain coral. We also encountered several other scuba divers.
Travis impressed us by floating motionless upside down, looking under the
reef and letting the current carry him along. He only rose and fell
ever so slightly with the rhythm of his breathing. As we returned
to the boat, a large thunderstorm was looming in the distance. The
wind was really picking up and flashes of lightning in the distance produced
worried looks on our faces. The cloud cover turned the ocean an eerie
fluorescent green color which was broken by numerous whitecaps. Rain
began to fall (the first we had seen while at sea base) and the temperature
turned slightly chilly. To add even further excitement, the boat
motor began to sputter again. Waves started breaking over the side
of the boat and into the faces of John and Marcia. High adventure!
Again the boat motor failed and several members of the group started singing
the theme song to ¤Gilligan╠s IslandË. John Haley quickly got the
motor running again and began to try to out race the storm. The wind
continued to pick up causing the waves to grow larger and then magically
the storm... began to dissipate. What a relief! We continued
to motor through sprinkling rain until we arrived at sea base. We
unloaded our gear for the final time, rinsed it and put it away.
We had a few moments of free time so we showered the ocean salt from our
bodies one final time. How sad! At 6:15 p.m. we returned our
scuba gear to the storage area above the quarterdeck and headed to our
Luau dinner. We ate a fish/rice/sauce kinda thing, corn and Key lime
pie! Next, we met with Travis and had our pictures taken for our
scuba certification cards. John and Marcia met with John Haley for
final check out while Laurie had the guys fill out some paperwork.
At 8:00 p.m. we went to the diving tank area for our final program.
Each of the scuba crews performed a skit. Our motley crew did the
¤Cool and Creamy skitË finishing it off by spraying whipped cream on top
of Laurie╠s blonde hair and Travis╠ bald head! The program ended
with a scuba fin being passed from person to person. While the person
had the fin, he had permission to speak. All the participants used
the opportunity to praise the staff and the staff in turn praised the crew╠s
efforts. In closing, we were presented with our sea base patches.
These colorful patches cannot be purchased, but may only be earned by participating
in a sea base program. A high value item indeed! Travis and
Laurie then requested our crew return to the classroom to complete some
module paperwork that Murty neglected to have us do. Afterwards,
we presented Laurie and Travis with our official Troop 325 tee shirts.
With our final block of free time, we took showers, pursued girls, made
phone calls or did laundry. Eric, Allen and Matt cleaned out the
van and ice coolers to prepare for our trip home. Since the fenced
in parking compound would not be unlocked until at least 7:00 a.m. the
next morning, John moved the van to the lot beside the main building.
The entire crew cleaned our room and bathrooms and settled down at 11:30
p.m.

Friday, July 13 John woke the Scouts at 6:20 a.m. We carried our gear to the
van and headed for breakfast. After a quick breakfast of cold cereal,
fresh fruit, toaster pastries and Combos (a special gift from Laurie),
we bid our goodbyes to the base and got into the van. We left at
7:08 a.m. and the occupants in the troop van were pleased to find the air
conditioning was working (unlike last sea base trip). John stopped
to get a cloud picture and again a few minutes later so Marcia could get
money from an ATM. The Scouts slept until our lunch stop at 12:21
p.m. We ate PB&J, potato chips, cookies, M&M granola bars
and pop. Several Scouts were spooked by the discovery of a spider
with hugh mandibles. They just don╠t make Scouts like they used to!
The driving was clear of construction and the traffic was light.
Eventually, boredom drove the guys to wave to people in other cars and
try to get them to wave back. After growing tired of this, they began
writing notes to people. One car in particular had a mom and a beautiful
teenage daughter in it. The daughter had a beautiful Sheltie puppy
on her lap. The guys wrote a note asking for her phone number.
The mother provided paper and the phone number was promptly displayed on
their window. All the guys copied it down, noted the Georgia county
on the car╠s license plate and begged John to stay with the car.
Unfortunately, a DQ was in sight and the troop van exited the interstate.
Marcia bought sandwiches, fries and drinks for everyone. Thanks Marcia!
Refueled and refreshed we continued on to the Econo Lodge. John held
a big trip meeting in his room where everyone discussed all the details
of the trip. The guys then swam and watched TV until 11:00 p.m.

Saturday, July 14 Marcia woke everyone up at 6:15 a.m. We packed our gear,
loaded the van and ate our free continental breakfast in the hotel lobby.
John got free Hercules toys for his kids as part of our stay at the Econo
Lodge. We left the lodge by 6:57 a.m. and hit the highway with our
sights set on home. We had a major backup on the Atlanta bypass,
but pretty much sailed through until hitting Kentucky. We ate PB&J
at a roadside park and sped on home. Sleeping was the main event,
but all eyes were wide open when we crossed the Ohio River into Cincinnati.
The traffic here was slow, but the excitement level was high. We
finally arrived at John╠s home at 5:34 p.m. John went for pizza while
everyone else washed and vacuumed the van. Parent╠s promptly picked
their sons up, listening intently to their exciting tales of adventure.
The Scoutmaster, after ingesting seven tranquilizers, putting his feet
up and listening to several hours of soft music declared, ¤There╠s no place
like home!Ë